- Man is and has long been a terminal predator, as marvellously equipped for hunting by our intellect as a lion is by his claws and fangs, as a wolf by his swift legs and pack instinct.
- Some hunt for the meat.
- game meat is lean, healthy, and free from additives;
- the process of obtaining it provides exercise and time in the outdoors, away from work pressures and the temptations of couches and televisions.
- Some hunt for the camaraderie
- for many of these, the actual hunt is secondary to the outing with friends, sharing the campfire with others of like mind and feeling.
- To hear the crunch of snow under your boots as you begin the hike into the distant, silent mountains.
- To smell the pines along the trail, and see the silent sentinel spruces on the ridges, barely glimpsed in the pre-dawn dark.
- It's enough to sit, shivering, at that best spot on the top rim of a remote basin, watching the east grow bright, waiting for the first rays of warm sunshine to break though the trees and drive away the bitter cold of night.
- But those moments, treasured as they are, pale before the ultimate goal of the hunt.
- the sudden ringing bugle of a bull elk, as he appears, suddenly, where no bull was a moment before. His breath plumes out in the cold as he screams his challenge, and your hands and will freeze momentarily in awe of his magnificence.
- It's enough to know that the day may bring the chance of a stalk, through the darkness under the trees, along the edges of the golden grasses of a meadow, creeping, creeping, under the streamside willows, silently, slowly, ever closer, testing the wind, watching underfoot for twigs, whispering a silent prayer to the forests and fields to allow you to close the gap, to make the shot.
- Early hunters knew this very well, as they revered their primary prey. For example, Plains Indians referred to the bison as "uncle" and "brother."
- Paleolithic cave drawings of game animals and hunt scenes are rendered with a loving reverence that is still evident today, thousands of years later. Modern hunters are much the same. Enter a hunter's home, and you'll likely find framed prints of deer and elk, waterfowl sculptures, photography of upland birds.
- Nature has but one law; Life feeds on Life, and Life gives Life to Life. People who obtain their steaks, chicken, and burgers from supermarkets and butcher's shops can lose sight of this fundamental truth, and perhaps they would prefer to have that process sanitized in just such a manner. In our modern, urbanized society, many like to imagine their own existence is bloodless, clean, and sanitary. But such an outlook is self-deluding. The hunter knows very well the cost for the steaks that grace his plate.
Loading...